These Celebs Say Being Famous Is Actually Expensive

Find out why these stars think being famous is expensive…

1. Sharon Stone

Sharon Stone recently shared that a major downside of fame is how expensive it can be. Not only do friends and family expect you to pay for everything but it also becomes costly to pay publicists, makeup artists and managers — in addition to a security team.

“It’s very expensive to be famous. You go out to dinner, and there’s 15 people at the table. And who gets the check? You get the $3,000 dinner check every single time,” Sharon shared with InStyle.

She added that after she skyrocketed to fame in Basic Instinct, admirers showed up wherever she was. While once traveling on a public airline, Sharon’s plane had to be turned around because a fan allegedly got so aggressive. At the time, Sharon says that she couldn’t afford a private security team and eventually had to move to a home in a gated community — just another major expense.

2. Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie says when she first started a career in Hollywood, she didn’t know what she was getting into. When she achieved a new level of fame thanks to her role in Suicide Squad, she ended up having to hire a security team, which ended up being incredibly expensive.

“There’s just all this stuff you learn along the way, like, when you get those death threats, it’s [smart] to have a security team do a background check on whoever sent them to see if there is any past history of violence, because you’ll need to know whether you need security to go to certain events. And every time you do a background check, it’s going to cost $2,000, so take that into consideration when you’re getting yourself into this,” she explained to the Hollywood Reporter.

She continued, “And it’s like, ‘OK, that’s a different kind of career.’ Because then you need to always do a job that can financially support that lifestyle; you can’t just do indie films for the rest of your life because that film back there changed everything, and now you have to be able to afford security. I just wish someone had explained a lot of those things to me early on. I wouldn’t have resented the position I found myself in because I would’ve known what I was getting myself into.”

3. Rachel Bloom

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend actress Rachel Bloom admits she’s run into some major expenses while getting ready for red carpets. She explained that designers often don’t want to dress her for events because she’s not a size zero and she ends up having to spend a ton of money on gowns. In fact, she spent $3,500 for the Gucci gown she wore to the 2017 Emmys.

“It is hard to get places to lend to me because I am not a size zero, but also I can afford it, so it’s okay,” she told E! Live Red Carpet. “I can always resell it. I do have an account on [consignment site] The RealReal…Take a look on The Real Real for this dress tomorrow!”

4. Busy Philipps

Busy Philipps agrees that red carpets and other events can get pricey as a celebrity. She explained that even when she’s promoting a film or project on behalf of an employer, only part of the costs to get ready are covered.

“I have to continually hustle…With hair, makeup, and wardrobe and what it costs…I look at the money I am supposedly making, and then it is not just the bills but what is expected of me when I show up at a place. The film company or this production company is only going to pay this percentage of your hair, makeup, and wardrobe, so then you have to make up the rest,” she told Page Six.

She continued, “So then you are a thousand dollars out of pocket, and at the end of the day, it’s like, ‘What am I doing?’ Sometimes I think I should just show up a mess at one of these things as a protest.”

5. Sydney Sweeney

Sydney Sweeney recently spoke out about how actors are paid in Hollywood, claiming that despite her success, she probably couldn’t take time off from work and still pay her bills. She said that as a celebrity, much of the money earned gets paid out to a behind-the-scenes team.

“I have to give 5% to my lawyer, 10% to my agents, 3% or something like that to my business manager. I have to pay my publicist every month, and that’s more than my mortgage,” she told THR. “If I just acted, I wouldn’t be able to afford my life in LA. I take deals because I have to.”

6. Taraji P. Henson

Taraji P. Henson has also spoken out about paying the team of people behind her who help support her career — in addition to the massive taxes she has to pay. Despite these people being vital to her career, it can still be expensive to pay everyone.

“I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ I have to. The math ain’t mathing. And when you start working a lot, you know, you have a team. Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone. The fact that we’re up here, it’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid. So when you hear someone saying, ‘Oh, such and such made $10 million,’ no, that…didn’t make it to their account,” she shared with Sirius XM.

She added, “Know that, off the top, Uncle Sam is getting 50%. Okay, so do the math. Now we have $5 million. Your team is getting 30%, or whatever your team is, off of what you grossed, not after what Uncle Sam took. Now do the math…I’m only human, and it seems every time I do something and I break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m at the bottom again, like I never did what I just did, and I’m just tired.”

7. Adelaide Kane

Adelaide Kane got transparent about how expensive it can be to be an actress in a TikTok that she’s since deleted. In the video, Adelaide explained that she had recently seen that people believed she was a millionaire — but she was actually in debt. Despite getting a fair payout for her work on shows like Reign, she claimed a percentage of her earnings went to her lawyer, manager and business manager, in addition to 30% in taxes as a non-US citizen.

On top of that, she said she had monthly fees for her publicist and social media team that were thousands of dollars. And for every promotional appearance, she claimed she racked up at least $2,000 for a stylist, hair and makeup team.

“Just to be clear up, every actor I know saves as much as humanly possible because most of us go for months or sometimes years at a time between jobs. And we do get residuals, but… So, I’m fine, but my savings won’t last forever, do you know what I mean?” she shared.

8. Aaron Carter

Before his passing, Aaron Carter opened up about the financial struggles of being famous. During an appearance on Spike TV’s Life or Debt, Aaron claimed that despite making a ton of money in his childhood, when he turned 18, he was hit with taxes that drained his bank account — in addition to money that was mismanaged by his parents.

“Financially, I’m in a terrible position. When I turned 18, I got hit with all those taxes. I filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year; now I’m already over $100,000 in debt,” Aaron said in 2016. “It’s been really difficult for me. I want to have a life set up. I want to have a house. I can’t tell you how badly I want to have a home.”